August 16, 2017

My Favorite Happy/Sad/Funny Moments of Marriage

Today, Jerry and I have been married for 14 years. It feels like it just flew by; but on the other hand, I can't really remember what it was like before. We've been together for over 18 years now--more than half my life! When I was young, and even a teen, I remember some of my cousins celebrating 10-year wedding anniversaries, and I thought that was such a long time.

On August 16, 2003, I couldn't even imagine what Jerry and I would be like 10 years down the road; but I never worried about it. On the day of our wedding, I was terrified of the wedding itself; but there was never a question in my mind that I was doing the right thing. While the wedding was an introvert's nightmare, the marriage didn't scare me at all.As corny as it is, I thought I'd write 14 of my favorite memories of Jerry and me in honor of our 14th wedding anniversary. Jerry is the master of corniness, so he will actually really love this post ;) (For our anniversary this year, he wrote me a list of 52 reasons why he loves me--good thing I didn't do a "14 Reasons Why I Love You" list.)Here goes... 14 Favorite Memories of Us1.When I was pregnant with Noah--not far along, just a couple of months--I went to the bathroom and noticed that I was spotting a little. My mom had a miscarriage with her first pregnancy, and I was so upset that the same was happening to me. The doctor's office was closed, and there wasn't anything they would have been able to do anyway, since I was just a couple of months along.I was really worried and upset, and just didn't want to do anything. Jerry had no idea what to do either, and to make me feel better, he decided to make dinner. Jerry is FAR from being a chef--he is the type that can somehow manage to burn water. He didn't even ask me any questions; he just picked a recipe from one of the three cookbooks we had at the time, and tried to follow it.

It was a casserole of chicken, egg noodles, and a creamy, cheesy sauce. He dished each of us up a bowl of it, and told me it was "Jerry's Chicken Casserole Surprise". I asked him what the surprise part was, and he responded, "I don't know, I thought that all casseroles are called 'something-something-surprise.'"

At the time, I couldn't really eat it. I was just too worried about the baby, and I picked at the casserole. I can remember it so well, sitting at the table with Jerry after having cried for a couple of hours, and feeling the love from him. He had no idea how to help me, but he tried by making a casserole.

Thankfully, nothing was wrong with my pregnancy, and Noah was born the following July, very healthy. A couple of times since then, when my depression was at its worst, Jerry pulled that recipe out and cooked dinner. It is the ultimate comfort food to me.

2. When we brought Noah home from the hospital, Jerry had a week off of work. He had been working the night shift, so he was used to staying up all night; which was very convenient for me, because he could take care of Noah during the night and I could actually get some sleep. Anyway, when it was time for Jerry to go back to work, we realized at the same time that Noah had slept in our arms the entire week! Since one of us was always awake, we were always holding him. We exchanged a look that basically said, "What now?" Thankfully, Noah was able to sleep in a crib ;)

3. One October after we'd had a stupid argument over something I don't remember, we were driving in silence when we came to an intersection where you could either turn right or turn left. There was a sign directly ahead of us that said, "Pumpkins" with an arrow on it to show which way to turn. But the sign was hung upside-down (when it was right side up, the arrow pointed right; upside down, the arrow pointed left. We didn't know if it being upside down was deliberate). I said, "Which way do you think the pumpkins are?" and we both burst out laughing. We laughed so hard that we were wheezing and gasping for breath. Ever since then, whenever we get to that intersection, one of us asks which way to the pumpkins.4. We used to play a game in college using Post-It notes, and we called it the "Forehead Game". We would secretly write a famous/infamous/celebrity person's name down on a Post-It, and then stick it on someone else's forehead (after having a few drinks, of course!). Once we all had names on our foreheads, we took turns asking yes or no questions to figure out who we were.

I was always terrible at that game, because I don't know anything about celebrities. I am the absolute worst with names, too--I can watch an entire series of a show and not be able to name the main characters, let alone the actors. One time, I was asking questions for what felt like a hundred years, and everyone else had already guessed theirs. I was getting impatient and mad at Jerry for picking something so hard for me to guess; and finally, I just grabbed the Post-It off of my forehead and looked... "Eric Estrada". Then, I shouted some words at the top of my lungs that my friends still tease me about to this day:

"WHO THE FUCK IS ERIC ESTRADA?!"

Hahaha, I still think Jerry purposely picked someone that he knew I wouldn't know. He wasn't allowed to write my Post-It for the forehead game after that ;)

5. When I was pregnant with Eli, I craved milkshakes like crazy (in other words, I was my normal self). Jerry and I were on our way home from the movies, and drove though McDonald's to get milkshakes. We each ordered a large, and they were enormous. When we got close to home, Jerry set his shake down in the cup holder and said, "Man! How fat does someone have to be to finish an entire large milkshake from McDonald's?!" And right as he said that, my straw started making that loud gurgling noise at the bottom of my cup as I finished off the shake. My kids love this story ;) What can I say? My stomach is bottomless when it comes to ice cream.6.Run/walking the Detroit Free Press International Half Marathon with Jerry in 2015 was one of the funnest times we've ever had together. We took it very easy, running and walking whenever we wanted (no set intervals). We people-watched, read funny signs, talked and laughed, and even took a shot of bourbon on the course together. It was so much fun!

7.Driving up to Cadillac, Michigan for a short weekend trip in July 2016 was one of the best times we've had as a couple. I made a fun playlist for the car, and we sang along loudly to old school music. We'd left at around 8:00 pm (I was going through a very rough period with my depression, and we had decided to cancel the trip the day before. Then, the following evening, I changed my mind and we headed up there. We arrived at 11:00 pm, and then we had a blast the following day. One of my favorite trips!

8. When I was barely pregnant with Noah (actually, I think it was a follow up after the spotting I'd had), I went to my OB's office for an ultrasound to make sure everything was okay. Jerry came with me, and the doctor turned on the ultrasound. He said everything looked fine. Jerry was looking at the screen, and said, "Ohmygod, I can see it! Look! There's it's eye! It's blinking!" My doctor turned his head a little because he was clearly trying not to laugh--the only thing on the ultrasound that was visible was a small black area that was shaped like a grape. The doctor said it was the "egg sac" and you couldn't see the baby yet. Jerry thought the sac was the baby's eye. It was adorable and hilarious at the same time!9. When my kids were little, I went to a splash fountain with a friend so that our kids could play in the water. Jerry stopped by there after work to say hi, and the kids were excited to see him. Without hesitation, he jumped into the fountain, fully clothed, and laid down on his back. He got totally soaked! The kids thought it was hilarious. In that moment, I remember thinking how lucky the kids are to have such a fun, carefree dad.

10. A couple of years after we moved into our house, we needed a cable guy to come fix some problem we were having with the TV. When he walked into the living room, he gestured toward the TV and said, "Is that your TV?" We thought that was such a funny questions--obviously it was our TV. Now, whenever one of us asks the other an obvious question, we reply, "Is that your TV?" sarcastically.11. After I broke my jaw, Jerry took a couple of weeks off work to take care of me. I was on so many medications that I couldn't do much other than lie around. And I was not an easy patient! I couldn't have solid foods, so he would make smoothies for me several times a day. He kept a chart of my medications and made sure I took them on time (even my meds had to be crushed up and mixed with water, because I couldn't get a single solid thing past my teeth!). I loved being taken care of--I'm usually the worrier and the one doing everything for others, so it was nice not to have to worry about anything at all.

12. Just recently, Jerry and I tried splitting the hostas in our landscaping--something we'd never done before. I posted a video about it when it happened. That morning was the hardest I've ever laughed in my entire life. I'm not exaggerating. Both of us lost our breath several times from laughing.

13. Jerry went to the store to get some biscuits so that we could make a bubble-up casserole for dinner. I was very specific about what to buy, because he's notorious for coming home with the wrong thing. He didn't see them on the shelf, so he had to ask an employee. The brand that I'd told him to get was Kroger's "Pssst!" brand. That is the most awkward word to say! He asked, "Do you have any Pssst biscuits?" Only he pronounced it, "pissed", hahaha. Now we ask each other for the "pissed" biscuits.14. We went to the Metropark one day to go for a walk, and Jerry had the idea to take photos that looked like the really corny senior pictures poses. It was hilarious! We were belly laughing the whole time, and we got some really fun pictures.

So, there you have it. Fourteen of my favorite memories with Jerry to celebrate 14 years of marriage :)

What a sweet post! Hope Jerry loves it! My husband and I just celebrated our 18th anniversary, but we didn't do anything nearly so sentimental. Hope you both have a great day and many more anniversaries to celebrate!

Congratulations on 14 amazing years! What a sweet and funny post. I think I am going to use this idea for our 14th anniversary, coming up in the Fall! (We are a whole whack older than you two, though.)

I am laughing so hard right now! You have some really funny and touching stories. Thanks for sharing and congrats on your (mostly great) years together. I laughed when I read that, because for one of our first few anniversaries, we went to a very fancy (for us at the time) restaurant, and they had matchbooks personalized for us that said "4 Great Years." Now we say that to each other every year, but "mostly great" would work too, ha ha.

I love reading your blog and love your posts about you and Jerry. You guys seem like you really enjoy life and the simple things because you actually really LIKE each other in addition to loving each other.

I'd love to hear from you! I read all of my comments, and if you have a question, I do my best to respond; sometimes, however, I get busy and forget to go back to reply, so if it's important, just email me! :) (I had to turn on comment moderation due to a ton of spam comments; but I will approve your comment asap!)

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